Self-aligning lock structure



March 20, 1956 F- J. RUSSELL SELF-ALIGNING LOCK STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 15, 1955 FRED J. RUSSELL,

INVENTOR.

HUEBNER, BEEHLER, WORREL a HERZIG,

AT ORA/[Y5- Mamh 1956 F. J. RUSSELL SELF-ALIGNING LOCK STRUCTURE 2 Shee ts-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 15, 1953 FRED J. RUSSELL,

INVENTOR.

HUEBNER, BEEHLER,

a 72225;? By -w 2,739,004 i SELLF-ALIGNINGLOCKISTRUCTURE Fred J. Russel 5110s ehngeles'pcaiif. Application Januai-y 11s, 1953 ,s na1fNe. 331,409' 2 Claims, (ci 292--ss 7 The invention relates to door locks and has particular reference to what are commonly designated tubular locks,

2,739,004 Patented Mar. .20,- 1956 commodate gthe latch unit to the spindle even though the latch unit maybe a considerable number of degrees oif-aninetydegree attitude with respect to the spindle With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement andcombination of the various parts f the device whereby the 0binexpensively as :possible, this'jbein'g 'p'artly'the result of exceptionally high wages in' the building trades and partly the result of insufficient training and experience of the installers. Although tubul'arloc ks' of the kind herein referred to have been engineered and designed *to present a unitary and uniform construction particularly welladapted to quick and accurate instillation as well as installations having considerable ne'atne'ss of-' appea'ra'nce, "nevertheless they havethe usual"defectsfoffidevices having mechanically 'moving parts which :must bezput together to work properly in'that thelmoving parts must be in properralig'nment. In devices of thisekind; furthermore, alignment depends tota' certain extent upon the -rnillwork in which the devices are installed; Where'themillwork is inaccurate or where surfaces are not' .in preciseright angularalignment, unskilled-workmen are prone to bore holes for the installation following the misalignment of the millwork and this very commonly results in a misalignment-of the moving parts when theyare installed." This is particularly true in cases where 'ho'les cut in the millw'or'k determine the position of the movin'gp'arts.

Since it is on manyioc'casions extremely difficult to properly align holes in the millwork or to realign holes inwardly from. the end *edge. 13 to join the opening 14..

In the example shown the axis of the latch-hole is shown v jects contemplated gare attained, as hereinafter set forth,-

pointed out inthe appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: Y i a Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view througha door installation showing the lock'parts imposition occupied just prior to assembly with the latch unit shown in misalignment.

Figure .2 is a view similar to Figure 1 with the lock parts aligned and assembled inthemillwork.

Figure 3 is a' vertical rlongitudinal view partially in section showing the interior portions of the latch unit andthe mounting of a hub for reception of a spindle.

V Figure 4 isa horizontal longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FigureS.

As'illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 ethere-i'sshoWn a section of millwork whichmay bedescribed as a door 10 having opposite faces 11 and :12 parallel to each-other but having an end'edge'13-beyelled as is :frequentlyvdon'c so that the 'end edge is ,at aniangle other than one of '90 degrees to the faces 11 and A transverse opening 14 extendsuthrough the'door between the faces 11 and 12, presumably at right angles to the plane ofetho'se surfaces." A latch liole 15 extends normal orperpendicular to' the 'be-velledend edge. :13 in which circumstanceit is lmisa'li'gnedrwith respect-to the" axis of the opening 14, the misalignment =being. exag'a gerated in Figuresl and 2f for-Zpurposesof illustration,-

' The lock hardware herein made reference to consists of a knob or operating assembly 16 adapted to engage the face 12 of the door and a somewhatsimilar knob or operating assembly 17 adapted to engage the opposite face 11 of the door. Although details o fthe knob assemblies are of secondary importance, the assembly 16 may be described as comprising a 'knob. 18 attached to a shank 19 which in turn is rotatably mounted upon a collar 20 of a rose 21. A rose insert, 22 lies beneath and strengthens the rose 21.

which have been initially improperly positioned, hard H ware which can suifer a certain amount of-misalignmen't without impairing the smoothness of its'operation is highly advantageous. I

It is therefore among' the objects of the invention *to provide a new and improved self-aligning :hardwar'e set, such as a lock setQ-which will operate smoothly and efliciently even though misaligned to a considerable degree when installed in a door or other appropriate building structure. A

Another object of the invention is to provide a new ing,-as that practice has been employed, is also built so that thespindle will be properly; indexed with the latch mechanism in all positions of misalignment of the parts which might be permitted by the post indexing. I

Still another object of the. invention is to providea new and improved lock set wherein a hub in the latch unit is mounted with a sufiici'ent degree'of'flexibi'lity per. mitting the axis of 'the spindle aperture through the bush ing to be cocked to a considerable degree with respect to the line of action of the latch bolt, thereby to ac- Similarly the knob assembly 17 comprises a knob 23 having 'a shank '24, the knob and "s'han'k bein'g rotatably mounted upon a collar 25 of ai'ro'se 26 which-in turn. I

" is reinforced and strengthened by -a roseinsert 27 Attached to the rose insert .27 is a pair or posts 28 and 29, these being secured by welding or similar means 30 to' the' rose insert; Both of the apostsuhave an Jinterior' threaded bore 31. The interior- -threaded here is, 7 adapted. to receive acorrespondingscrew 32 which ex-- tends through an appropriate-hole in the rose 21 and -rose insert',22-. A spindle 33,-;preferably non-circular and hereshownsquare in cross-section, is non-rotatably mounted intheknob 23. i The spindle is adapted to be and improved lock set whichin addition to post indexreceived non-rotatablyin the knob 18 when thetparts .of the lock are assembled, as illustrated in Eigh'rfeZ.

"In the type of lock herein" described the latch bolt is mounted in a latch unit 34; 'tha't' is to say,'the llatch bolt and operating partsfajre all contained within a two-part shell 35 which is preferably secured in assembled posi-' tion so as to'function'as a unit.

The latch unit, as seen to-good advantage in Figures 3 and. 4, includes a latch bolt 36 which is adapted to reciprocate back and forth within the shell '35. In the particular construction chosen for the purpose of -il lus-- 3 tration a spacer 37 provides a bottom support for a spring 38 positioned normally to urge the latch bolt outwardly. The latch bolt in turn has secured thereto a slide 39 surrounding the spring 38 and extending from right to left, as viewed in Figure 3, to a position such that an inner end 40 of the slide lies adjacent the spindle 33. The inner end 40 has an inwardly bent shoulder 41 on each'side located in a position where it can be moved by means of a cam 42. For smoothness of operation two shoulders are provided operated by respective earns 42 .so that nomatter which way the spindle 33 may be rotated the bolt 36 will be withdrawn to an unlatched position.

A hub 43 forms an operating element of the latch and is the element of which earns 42 are a part to the extent that rotation of the hub 43 causes one or another of the cams42 to be moved against the respective shoulder 41. The hub 43 has a bush portion 44 on each side thereof. To receive the bush portions 44 the shell 35 is provided with inwardly bent flanges 46, one on each side, forming an aperture 47. It will be noted that the diameter of the inside wall of each flange 46 forming the respective aperture 47 issubstantially greater than the outermost diameter of the bush portion 44 at the largest porion. The difference in diameters provides what may be designated in the trade as a loose or sloppy fit of the hub in the apertures. This fit'permits considerable angular defiection of the hub with respect to the shell.

Extending througheach bush portion is a square hole 48 sized to admit thesquare spindle 33 with a smooth, loose, sliding fit. It should be noted further that not only can the hub tilt to a considerable extent angularly, but it can also shift bodily in a lateral direction for a limited distance toward one side or the other as viewed either in Figure 3 or Figure 4.

In the installation of the device herein described it is important to consider thatpost holes 49- in the shell 35 of the latch unit are considerably greater in diameter than the exterior diameter of the posts 28 and which are adapted to be inserted through the post holes. When this relationship is established, the parts of the lock unit may be assembled even though they are in a misalignment somewhat like that illustrated in Figure 1. There is suflicient tolerance or clearance between the post holes 49 and the posts 28 and 29 to permit the screws 32 to find their way into the threaded bores 31 without necessitating the shell being mounted with its axis precisely at right angles to the axes of the posts and screws. The permissive misalignment is suggested in the assembled condition of Figure 2.

It is not sufficient, however, to provide only for post indexing as suggested by the permitted misalignment of the posts with the post holes and consequently the axis of the knobs with the axis of movement of the latch bolt 36. Since movementwithin the latch unit must be free and easy, it is necessary further that the hub which carries the earns 42 also be capable of misalignment without binding operation of the bolt 36 and its attached slide 39. It is for this reason that the bush portions 44 are adapted to tilt and shift freely to a limited extent within the rounded aperture 4 7. With the hub permitted this latitude of movement and angular shift, the spindle 35 can be inserted through the square holes 48 of the hub, thereby to throw the axis of the hub into alignment with the axis of the spindle and out of alignment with the axis of action of the bolt 36 and slide 39. Because of the fact that there is merely surface contact between the cams 42 and the respective shoulders 41,

tilting the hub out.of alignment to align it with .the spindle 33 still permits freedom of action of the cams on the shoulders and will in no wise bind movement of the slide 39. Hence even though the latch hole 15 may be cut or bored considerably out of alignment necessitating mounting of the latch unit out of alignment when an end plate 50 is fastened to the end edge 13, nevertheless the latch continues to operate smoothly.

There has accordingly been described herein a latch construction following conventional lines but in which by a new arrangement and association of parts there is provided a sufiicient freedom of motion and misalignment of parts to the end that the separate units of the lock may be installed in a door so as to function and operate effectively and successfully even though there may be inadvertent misalignment of holes bored in the door for the reception of thoseparts.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in what I have conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of my invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace anytand all equivalent devices.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A lock for a closure comprising an outer operating assembly, an inner' operating assembly, a latch unit including a reciprocating latch bolt member and a housing therefor, and a spindle means adapted to-extend between the operating assemblies and the latch unit, a separate hub element in the latch unit having a hole therethrough for the spindle means, said spindle means having a snug der portions having a lesser distance therebetween than opposite inner side walls of said housing, said housing including an aperture in theside wall on each side of the housing of diameter less than themid-portion and substantially exceeding the outside diameter of outside ends of the hub and adapted to receive said hub in a variety of positions of misalignment, means on the hub operably engaging a' complementary portion of the latch bolt member in any of said positions of misalignment of the hub, and connecting means independent of the spindle engaging withthe'latch unit and incorporated in said operating assemblies for positioning said operating assemblies in operating relationship with said latch unit when installed on a closure, said connecting means and said latch unit having an engagement at extreme positions of misalignment, said hub and said latch unit having a circumferential clearance at the limit of misalignment of the connecting means and the latch unit wherein said hub remains free to rotate in the latch unit when the connecting means and the latch unit engage at their limit of misalignment.

2. A lock for a door comprising an outer operating assembly including an anchoring plate adapted to lie against one side: of a door, aninner operating assembly including an anchoring plate adapted to lie against the other side of the door, a pair of post elements on one plate, a pair of screws on the other plate adapted to engage the postelernents, a latch unit including a reciprocating latch bolt member and a housing therefor, index holes extending into the housing having a diameter exceeding the diameter of said post elements and adapted to receive said elements 'in dilferent positions of misalignment up we limit determined by the relationship of said diameters, a separate" hub element having a noncircularspindle hole therethrough and a spindle means extending from the operating assemblies into the latch unit and having a snugsliding fit in said hole, said hub having outside ends and said housing havingan aperture on each side of the housing of diameter exceeding the outside diameter of outside ends of the hub by an amount greater than the amount the diameter of the index holes exceeds the diameter of the post elements, said aperture being adapted to freely receive said hub in a variety of positions of misalignment and in all positions of the post elements in said index holes, and cam means on the hub operably engaging a complementary portion of the latch bolt member in all positions of misalignment of the hub.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Coley July 7, 1903 Voight Feb. 20, 1906 Schlage Oct. 6, 1931 Moore Jan. 31, 1933 Lickteig Jan. 16, 1951 Russell et a1 Apr. 7, 1953 

